The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene - should you read it?
As some of you might already know from the July update, I have been reading The Laws of Human Nature, and I finally finished it! And by finally, I don't mean it like that boring finally, when you sigh a bit - oh, finally. I mean - finally, but in an exciting sense! And in the following lines, I'll try to translate that excitement into words.
About the author
What Wikipedia says about Robert Greene is the following. An American author, born on May 14, 1959. He is the author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written six international bestsellers: The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law (with rapper 50 Cent), Mastery, and The Laws of Human Nature.
The Laws of Human Nature is his sixth book, published in 2018. It's about people's conscious and unconscious drives, motivations, and cognitive biases.[1]
Book overview
In short, this book is big. It is around 600 pages long. But, don't let that demotivate you! I think that this book is awesome! One of the best I have read so far. But then again, it is maybe one of the rarest I interacted with the most. I have written quite some pages, taking notes, while reading this book. The important thing is that you don't need to read this book in one go. I did it because I was so curious about what will next chapter bring. And you don't need to read chapters in order, it would be good, but you don't have to do that - you can jump around.
This book contains 18 chapters. Each one of them with this specific structure.
- The first part is a story about a certain human trait that some important person from history had. There are stories about Coco Chanel, Pericles, Howard Hughes, Queen Elizabeth (not the current one), John D. Rockefeller, and so on.
- Next, the author goes in explaining certain human trait that was described in a story at the start of the chapter, with key specifics, what to take into account, what to be aware of, and how to interact with certain personality types.
- The third part is reserved for how to improve yourself, and how to be a better human. For example, if you notice in you some narcissistic traits, the author explains how to be aware of them and how to use them in the best way for you and your environment.
(Short) description of each chapter
Now to the important part - what are the chapters about?
The first chapter is about irrationality - how we humans tend to be a bit more irrational, and how to be a more rational self. How to cultivate your inner Athena. I'm not going to describe this term here, I think you could find a lot better description in the book itself.
The second part is about narcissism. This chapter describes, among many other things, what are the root causes of narcissistic behaviour, different narcissistic types, and how to cultivate more empathy.
The third chapter is the one about the role-playing aspect of human nature - what are the aspects of it, and some basics of how to be better in the art of role-playing.
The fourth one was about compulsive behaviour - what decides a person's character, how to see more of people's character, what are some toxic types, and how to cultivate a superior character.
The fifth part is the law of covetousness, a synonym for envy. What is the root cause of it, some strategies for stimulating the desire, and in the end the supreme desire - how to use it to your advantage and become a better human.
The sixth part is about shortsightedness - how to notice the signs, and how to overcome it.
The seventh chapter is about the defensiveness of human nature, how to make others less defensive during interactions with you, how to be more flexible in communication, and so on. Really interesting chapter.
The eighth part is about self-sabotage - describing both negative and positive attitudes, and how to cultivate the latter.
The ninth is the law of repression, the dark side in us all. What are some types of dark traits we all have, how to find yours, how to be aware of it, and show it up to the adequate point.
The tenth part is about envy - how to test for it, what are envier types, envy triggers, and how to go beyond envy. This chapter is connected to the fifth one, but it explores envy from a different perspective.
Chapter eleven is about grandiosity - what it is, why people feel this way, and how to cultivate practical grandiosity.
Chapter twelve is about gender rigidity, anima and animus, gender projections, how to cultivate both masculine and feminine thinking, and styles of action.
The thirteenth chapter is about the law of aimlessness and strategies for developing a high sense of purpose - how to find the inner compass, and awareness of so-called false purposes.
Part fourteen is about conformity, and how to resist the downward pull of the group. What are some group types, and how to be part of the reality group.
Chapter fifteen is about the law of fickleness - how to be a better leader, and how to cultivate inner authority.
Part sixteen is about human aggression, what is the source of it, where aggressive energy goes, how to counter them, and how to develop controlled aggression.
Chapter seventeen is about generational myopia - how to be aware of the generation shifts and what each generation can bring to the world.
The last chapter is about the law of death denial - the paradoxical death effect - how we become more aware of it when we either brush past it or encounter it in people close to us. It contains how to form a philosophy of life through death.
Summary
As I mentioned, this book is full of different concepts, some you may know, some you may hear for the first time. Chapters that I enjoyed were the first, second, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, thirteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth and the last one. Now that I see it, I should've gone in a different direction - note chapters I didn't enjoy as much.
If I could sum up in one sentence, what have I learned from this book, it would be this - always look inward for answers, and don't be afraid of them.
Now, should you read it - yes - it will help you learn a lot about us, humans, and show you some different perspectives you (maybe) weren't aware of.